Frozen confectionery product with layered structure and apparatus for manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a frozen confectionery product and to a method of manufacturing same. It furthermore relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a frozen confectionery product by rotary vertical extrusion. Said apparatus comprises a nozzle ( 14 ) at least one ice-cream passage ( 20, 22 ) with at least one inlet port ( 24, 26 ) and an outlet port ( 28 ), and at least one chocolate passage ( 30, 32 ) with respectively an inlet port ( 34, 36 ) and an outlet port ( 38, 38 ′). The outlet ports are provided in the nozzle ( 14 ) and have elongated cross-sections, and each chocolate outlet port ( 38, 38 ′) extends in parallel to an ice cream outlet port ( 28 ), so as to form annular or helical chocolate layers upon rotation of the nozzle and the container with respect to each other.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a National Stage of International ApplicationNo. PCT/EP2011/050261, filed on Jan. 11, 2011, which claims priority toEuropean Patent Application No. 10150904.0, filed on Jan. 15, 2010, theentire contents of which are being incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a frozen confectionery product with alayered structure and to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing thesame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various frozen confectionery products containing inclusions or crispylayers of a fat-based coating exist.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,767 discloses to make a cup or a cone having a flakytexture, superposed ribbons of ice cream and chocolate are extruded intoa mold in the form of spirals by means of an extrusion assemblycomprising a flat extrusion tube and a spray tube. The extrusionassembly receives a spinning movement resulting from an eccentricrotational movement and an ascending movement relative to the mold.

However, as the chocolate is sprayed onto the ice cream, it is verydifficult to control the thickness of the chocolate layers and virtuallyimpossible to obtain regular crunchy layers of a desired thickness.Furthermore the spraying mechanism is relatively expensive.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,070 a layered cone with alternating layers ofchocolate and ice cream is made by extruding an ice cream into avertically descending helix rotating about a vertical axis and havingspaced flights which define passages therebetween the helix. Chocolateis sprayed into these passages of the extruded helix. Here also it isvery difficult to control the thickness and crunchiness of the chocolatelayers, and the apparatus is rather expensive due to the sprayingprocess.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,965 relates to the production of cakes of iceconfectionery containing integrated decorative layers of crisp materialsuch as chocolate. The ice cream is horizontally extruded, and chocolateis sprayed on an ice cream layer. Here also it is difficult and costlyto control the thickness of the chocolate layers.

EP 0 221 757 A2 discloses an ice cream product containing chocolateflakes. The ice cream is extruded from a nozzle into a cone or a mold,and chocolate is ejected with high speed towards a stream of ice creamissued from the nozzle so as to penetrate the ice cream and form a thinstrip like layer therein. It is not possible to obtain a regular,layered structure with such a method.

Other methods for producing layered ice cream products are known fromprior art where the chocolate stays relatively long in contact with theice cream, e.g. using a chocolate nozzle rotating inside an ice creamflow. These methods do not work with real chocolate, which has a highermelting point than fat-based coatings and will thus quickly clump.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is thus the object of the present invention to provide an apparatusand a method for making frozen confectionery products which overcomesthe drawbacks mentioned above. It is furthermore the object of thepresent invention to provide a novel frozen confectionery product,comprising very thin and crispy chocolate layers which are regularlydistributed in the product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This object is achieved by the apparatus according to claim 1, themethod according to claim 8 and the frozen confectionery productaccording to claim 10.

According to the invention, the apparatus for making a frozenconfectionery product by vertical extrusion comprises:

-   -   a nozzle,    -   at least one ice-cream passage with at least one inlet port and        an outlet port, and    -   at least one chocolate passage with an inlet port and an outlet        port.

The outlet ports have elongated cross-sections, and a chocolate portextends next to an ice cream port in parallel thereto, so that achocolate stripe is “painted” on the ice cream strip which is extruded.When the nozzle and the container are rotated with respect to eachother, annular or helical chocolate layers separated by ice cream layersare formed.

According to a preferred embodiment there are at least two chocolateoutlet ports.

This makes it possible to obtain two chocolate helixes in one step.According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least twochocolate passages with respectively an inlet port and an outlet portare provided, i.e. each outlet port is connected to its own chocolatepassage with its own inlet port, and the chocolate flow is thus meteredseparately for each outlet port. This avoids clumping of chocolate inone of the circuits. Furthermore this gives the possibility of making aproduct having different crunchy layers, for example different types ofchocolate or other layers.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, one commoninlet port leads through a chocolate passage to two outlet ports. Thissolution still allows it to obtain two helices in one step, but is lesscomplex.

It should be noted that, where nothing else is specified, the term“chocolate” used in the present application should comprise anycomposition similar to a recipe containing cocoa or chocolate which canform crunchy layers in an ice cream product. Furthermore, it should benoted that the elongated cross section of the outlet ports can have anyshape, in particular it can be rectangular, but also curved.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatuscomprises a fixed body, and the nozzle can be rotated with respect tosaid fixed body. The inlet ports are then provided in the fixed body andthe outlet ports in the rotatable nozzle. Preferably the rotatablenozzle and the fixed body are coaxial to each other. The inlet ports canthus be distributed around the apparatus and be connected to the outletports through annular passages.

Alternatively, the apparatus and the nozzle can remain static, and thecontainer is rotated during extrusion.

In the same way, the apparatus may comprise a motor for a verticalmovement so that it can be moved away from the container while fillingit. Alternatively, the container can be moved away from the apparatusand the apparatus remains static.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, two outlet portsof the chocolate passages are arranged symmetrically with respect to acentral ice-cream outlet port on opposite sides thereof. This makes itpossible to extrude a stripe of ice cream being “painted” with chocolateon both sides, so that one obtains two chocolate helixes which willstart and end on different sides of the container. The chocolate outletports can be laterally offset with respect to each other, and bydesigning the geometry of the outlet ports adequately, one can obtain aproduct with two chocolate helixes, which will never be in contact witheach other, but always be separated by the ice cream layer.

Various other geometries of the outlet ports are possible and fallwithin the scope of the present invention. It is for example possible touse several ice cream outlet ports, for instance three ice cream outletports arranged in a star-like conformation, or four ice cream outletports arranged in a cross-like conformation. For each ice cream outletport one can provide a chocolate outlet port “painting” a chocolatestripe on the extruded ice cream stripe. This allows it to create amultitude of interesting products combining different ice creamflavours, ice cream and sorbet, etc. The chocolate can also for some ofthe outlet ports be replaced by another, either crunchy or softermaterial such as a caramel, a fruit sauce, etc.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the chocolatepassage or passages are separated and insulated from the ice-creampassage and join the ice-cream passage only at the outlet port. Thisavoids that the liquid chocolate is chilled by the ice cream which couldlead to undesired clumping of the chocolate. The chocolate can bemaintained at a temperature above its melting point and solidifies onlyafter the extrusion when it is in direct contact with the ice cream andforms the desired layer. It is thus possible to obtain very thin andregular chocolate layers.

The apparatus can further comprise a hot air passage having an inletport and an outlet port, said outlet port being directed towards thechocolate passage such that hot air exiting said outlet port heats upthe chocolate passage. The chocolate is thus kept at a temperature whichis above its melting temperature so that it remains liquid andsolidifies only after extrusion.

The chocolate passage or passages can at least partly be formed byflexible hoses.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ice-creampassage has two ice-cream inlet ports both leading into the passagebefore the outlet port. It is thus possible to use two different icecream flavours. Preferably one will chose two ice cream flavours havinga different appearance, so that the final product will not only containchocolate layers but will also have a layered structure with twodifferent types of ice cream alternating. This also allows giving anappealing appearance to the top of the product, which may have a swirleddecoration due to the two visually distinctive types of ice creamextruded through the ice cream outlet.

Preferably the longitudinal diameter of each of the chocolate outletports corresponds to less than half of the longitudinal diameter of theice cream outlet port. Furthermore, in order to obtain thin layers ofchocolate separating thicker layers of ice cream, the transversaldiameter of the chocolate outlets will be much smaller than thetransversal diameter of the ice cream outlet.

Typically the ice cream outlet may have a longitudinal diametercorresponding basically to the diameter of a tub to be filled, while thechocolate outlets would have a smaller longitudinal diameter.

The method for manufacturing a frozen confectionery product uses anapparatus as described above. Ice-cream and chocolate are simultaneouslyextruded through the respective outlet ports into a container, while thenozzle and the container are rotated with respect to each other. At thesame time the distance between the container and the nozzle isincreased, either by moving the apparatus upwards in a verticalmovement, or by moving the container downwards.

As already mentioned above, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention, two different types of ice cream having a visually differentappearance are fed to the apparatus through two ice cream inlets so asto obtain a layered ice cream structure. It also possible to use threeor more different types of frozen confectionery, e.g. different icecream flavours, and to extrude them through separate or combined icecream outlet ports.

The frozen confectionery product according to invention comprises acontainer such as a tub or a cup, preferably in an individual portionsize. The container can also be an edible container such as a wafer cupor cone. The product furthermore comprises an aerated frozen confectionextruded into the container, wherein a plurality of thin chocolatepatterns are provided in the aerated frozen confection. The frozenconfection can be any extrudable, i.e. relatively soft, frozenconfection such as ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, or frozen yoghurt. Thechocolate patterns have the form of at least one, preferably two ormore, substantially helical chocolate layers extending across thecomplete height of the container and forming substantially annularparallel chocolate layers. “Extending across the complete height of thecontainer” means that the lower end of the helical chocolate layer issituated close to the bottom of the container, although it does ofcourse not necessarily have to touch the bottom. In the same way theupper end of the chocolate layer lies close to the top of the frozenconfection, although it might not be visible at the surface. When thefrozen confection is cut vertically, the helical chocolate structureappears as a plurality of annular layers which are substantiallyparallel to each other and to the bottom of the container.

The top of the frozen confection may not be flat but rather conical,i.e. the cross section of the frozen confection when cut vertically maybe tapered towards the top of the product. It is particularly attractiveto have a spiral-like top with the helical chocolate structure beingvisible from the top. It is rather difficult to finish a traditional icecream cone with a spiral-like top being extruded, as the shape retentionof the extrudable frozen confection is in general not sufficient toachieve a form-stable shape. The chocolate layers provide additionalshape retention to the ice confection in such a way that is now easierto obtain a stable, i.e. free-standing conical or spiral structureprotruding from the container. The invention therefore opens up newpossibilities of obtaining shaped tops, in particular for wafer cones,but also for transparent cups or any other type of container, theproduct thus being visually more attractive for the consumer.

It should be noted that the shaping effect can also be advantageouslyused when combining a frozen confection having relatively high shaperetention on the outside of the product with a softer frozen confection,having a lower shape retention, e.g. a sorbet, on the inside.

Preferably the chocolate forming the layers is a real chocolate in thesense of the Directive 2000/36/EC of the European Parliament and of theCouncil of 23 Jun. 2000 relating to cocoa and chocolate productsintended for human consumption, i.e. it contains little or no vegetablefat except for the cocoa butter which is naturally present in chocolate.Compared to the frequently used and cheaper fat-based materials, realchocolate has a better taste and a higher quality. As cocoa butter has amelting point of 34°-38° C., the melting point of the chocolate formingthe layers is lying above 34° C. This is relatively high compared tofat-based materials which are frequently used for forming inclusions orcrunchy layers in ice confections, and which have a melting point ofaround 24° C. (corresponding to the melting point of coconut oil whichis often added in fat-based chocolate compositions used in iceconfectionery products). A layer of real chocolate having the samethickness will be perceived as more crunchy and crispy than a similarlayer of fat-based material. However, due the high melting point, it ismore difficult to work with real chocolate when making ice confectioneryproducts, as clumping and forming of excessively thick layers isfrequent.

The method and apparatus of the present invention make it possible toproduce very thin, regular and crunchy layers of real chocolate.

Preferably the layers have a thickness of between 500 μm and 3500 μm,more preferably between 800 μm and 3500 μm, even more preferably between900 μm and 2500 μm. Below a thickness of 500 μm the layers are notperceived as crunchy anymore. Below a thickness of 900 μm thecrunchiness is getting less perceivable but may still be acceptable.Preferably, for at least 80%, preferably 90% of the surface of thelayers, the layers have a thickness between 800 μm and 1800 μm with anaverage thickness lying around 1300 μm. When using real chocolate asexplained above, consumers perceive the layers as crunchy, but not toohard to be spooned for a layer thickness lying in this range. The sameperception may be achieved with a different layer thickness fordifferent chocolate recipes.

Preferably the distance between two parallel chocolate layers liesbetween 4 and 10 mm, ideally between 8 and 9 mm for a cup or tub. Thismeans that for example for an ice cream cup having a height of 40-45 mm,4 to 6 layers of chocolate will be present, while 8 to 12 layers wouldbe present in a cup having a height of 80-90 mm. This distance leads toa well balanced product. In a cone the ice cream layers may be thinner,for example between 4 to 6 mm. One can thus obtain a cone of a standardformat having 4 to 6 chocolate layers in the lower “base” part and oneor two additional layers in the top part which can have a spiral shape.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the aerated frozenconfection has itself a helically layered structure formed by at leasttwo visually different types of aerated frozen confection alternatingwith the chocolate layers. Such a product is not only visually moreappealing, but the use of two different types of aerated frozenconfection, e.g. two different ice cream flavours, gives a lot ofpossibilities to create interesting dessert compositions.

FIGURES

The present invention is further described hereinbelow referring to theaccompanying drawings which illustrate one preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of an apparatus according to the invention

FIG. 1A shows an enlarged detail designated by “A” in FIG. 1

FIG. 2 is a schematical drawing of the outlet ports of the apparatusshown in FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a schematical drawing of an alternative design of the outletports for an apparatus according to the invention

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of a frozen ice confectionery productaccording to the invention.

FIG. 5 shows another frozen confectionery product according to theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an apparatus for making a frozenconfectionery product according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. A fixed body 12 and, a rotatable nozzle 14 are mountedconcentrically on a central rod 10. The nozzle 14 can be rotated withrespect to the fixed body 12 around the longitudinal axis X by a gear16. The whole apparatus is held in a frame 18 and can be moved upwardsand downwards.

An ice-cream passage with an upper part 20 and a lower part 22 extendsalong the longitudinal axis X of the apparatus through the fixed body 12and the rotatable nozzle 14. The passage features two inlet ports 24, 26through which two different types of ice cream can be fed to theapparatus (direction of arrows F, G). A first inlet port 24 lies above asecond inlet port 26, and when the apparatus is in use, the tubularupper part 20 of the ice cream passage is only filled with the ice creamfed thereto via the first inlet port 24. The ice cream fed to theapparatus via the second inlet port 26 joins the ice cream passage in alower part 22 where it is no longer tubular, but cylindrical. The twotypes of ice cream fed into the apparatus through inlet ports 24, 26respectively will not mix but form a bi-component ice-cream strandflowing through the lower part 22 of the ice cream passage towards anice cream outlet port 28 (cf. FIGS. 1A and 2).

The apparatus is furthermore provided with two chocolate passages 30, 32with respectively an inlet port 34, 36 and an outlet port 38, 38′ (cf.FIGS. 1A and 2). Here also, the inlet ports 34, 36 are provided in thefixed body, below the ice cream inlet ports, while the outlet ports 38,38′ are provided in the rotatable nozzle. While a first part of thechocolate passages is integrated in a body of the rotating nozzle 14,the chocolate is then led via flexible hoses 35, 37 towards the outletports 38, 38′. The flexible hoses 35, 37 do not touch the part of thenozzle 14 containing the lower part of the ice cream passage 22, and theliquid and warm chocolate is thus insulated from the ice cream. Thechocolate passages 30, 32 and the flexible chocolate hoses 35, 37 canfurthermore be heated up by hot air that is blown in through an airinlet port 50 (direction of arrow D) to flow through hot air passage 56and towards hot air outlet port 52, 54. As the chocolate is fedseparately to the two chocolate outlet ports 38, 38′ through twodifferent inlet ports 34, 36, the chocolate supply can be meteredindividually and there is no preferred circuit. This avoids clumping ofchocolate in the circuit or at the outlet ports.

As it can be seen in FIG. 2, the outlet ports 28, 38, 38′ have elongatedcross-sections and extend in parallel, with the outlet ports 38, 38′ ofthe chocolate passages 30, 32 being arranged symmetrically with respectto the central ice-cream outlet port 28. Although the schematicaldrawing of FIG. 2 is not on scale, one can see that the ice cream outletport 28 is about twice as large as the chocolate outlet ports 38, 38′.

When the nozzle 14 and thus the outlet ports 28, 38, 38′ are rotatedduring the extrusion process, an ice cream helix containing the twodifferent ice cream flavours 40, 42 is extruded through the central icecream outlet port 28 (cf. FIG. 3 showing a cross section through thefinal product) into a cylindrical tub 60. By means of the two chocolateoutlet ports 38, 38′, two chocolate helixes 44, 46 are formed, each ofthem lying between two layers of ice cream 40, 42. Due to the geometryof the outlet ports 28, 38, 38′ which do not overlap, the chocolatehelixes will never touch each other, but always be separated by an icecream layer.

These chocolate helixes appear as thin, basically annular or disc-likechocolate layers in the final product, as it can be seen in the crosssection of FIG. 4. The chocolate layers 44, 46 have preferably athickness between 800 μm and 1800 μm at least for 80% or 90% of thelayer surface with an average thickness lying around 1300 μm. As alreadymentioned above, the ideal thickness preferred by consumers seekingcrunchiness can vary depending on the chocolate recipe. For theembodiment shown in FIG. 4, a dark chocolate not containing any othervegetable fat than cocoa butter was used.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment, where a wafer cone 62 is used asa container instead of a tub or cup. As usual, the frozen confection isfilled into the wafer cone 62 and continues on top thereof in a shapewhich is a prolongation of the conical wafer. The chocolate layers 46are partly visible from the outside. Instead of ending in a conventionalflat top or ball top, the uppermost part of the frozen confection has aspiral shape 64 which makes the ice cream or sorbet layers 40, 42 andthe chocolate layers 46 appear as twirl when looked at from above.

The spiral shape at the end can be achieved by adjusting the speed atwhich the nozzle 14 is lifted and the rotational speed of the nozzle.With the same apparatus, depending on the choice of these parameters andthe timing of the opening of the valves, it is possible to achievedifferent shapes from a flat top to a very “steep” spiral top.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative design of the outlet ports. Three ice creamoutlet ports 28, 28′, 28″ having an elongated cross section are arrangedwith an angle of 120° in between them in a star-like manner. For eachice cream outlet port 28, there is one associated chocolate outlet port38, 38′, 38″ having also an elongated cross section with a slightlysmaller longitudinal diameter. This design can be used with an apparatuscorresponding basically to the one shown in FIG. 1, but being providedwith three ice cream passages and three ice cream inlets as well as withthree chocolate passages. During the extrusion process, at eachchocolate outlet port 38, 38′, 38″, a chocolate stripe is painted on theice cream stripe extruded through the associated ice cream outlet port28, 28′, 28″. Instead of chocolate or a fat-based chocolate coating, onecan extrude caramel or another softer material through one of thechocolate outlet ports, so that two chocolate layers and one caramellayer alternate in the product.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10 rod-   12 fixed body-   14 rotatable nozzle-   18 frame-   20 ice cream passage (upper part)-   22 ice cream passage (lower part)-   24, 26 ice cream inlet port-   28, 28′, 28″ ice cream outlet port-   30, 32 chocolate passages-   34, 36 chocolate inlet port-   35, 37 flexible chocolate hose-   38, 38′, 38″ chocolate outlet port-   40, 42 ice cream-   44, 46 chocolate helix/layer-   50 hot air inlet-   52, 54 hot air outlet-   56 hot air passage-   60 tub-   62 wafer cone-   64 spiral top

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for making a frozenconfectionery product by rotary vertical extrusion into a container, theapparatus comprising: a nozzle; at least one ice-cream passage with atleast one inlet port and an outlet port; at least one chocolate passagewith at least an inlet port and at least two outlet ports, the chocolatepassage is insulated from the ice-cream passage and joins the ice-creampassage only at the outlet port of the ice-cream passage such that theoutlet port of the at least one ice-cream passage is in the same planeas the at least two outlet ports of the at least one chocolate passage;the outlet ports are located in the nozzle and have elongatedcross-sections, and the chocolate outlet port extends parallel to, andin the same direction as, the ice cream outlet port, so as to form anannular or helical chocolate layer upon rotation of the nozzle and thecontainer with respect to each other.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the inlet port of the chocolate passage is a single common inletport leading to the at least two chocolate outlet ports.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the nozzle rotates with respect to a fixedbody during extrusion, and the inlet ports are located in the fixed bodyand the outlet ports in the rotatable nozzle.
 4. The apparatus of claim3, wherein the rotatable nozzle and the fixed body are coaxial.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least two outlet ports of thechocolate passage are located symmetrically with respect to theice-cream outlet port which is positioned centrally relative to the atleast two outlet ports of the chocolate passage, the at least two outletports of the chocolate passage comprise two chocolate outlet ports onopposite sides of the ice-cream outlet port relative to each other. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, comprising an air passage having an inlet portand an outlet port, the outlet port directed toward the chocolatepassage.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ice-cream passage hastwo ice-cream inlet ports both leading into the passage before theoutlet port.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the longitudinaldiameter of each of the chocolate outlet ports corresponds to less thanhalf of the longitudinal diameter of the ice cream outlet port.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least two chocolate outlet portshave different inlet ports relative to each other and are part ofdifferent chocolate passages relative to each other.
 10. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the at least two outlet ports of the at least onechocolate passage and the outlet port of the at least one ice creampassage extend in parallel.